Nutrition might be the most underestimated aspect within the football world. It is still often thought that what you eat doesn’t have an influence on your performance on the pitch. Nothing is less true! Scientific research has shown that the best nutrition for football players can have a big impact. A simple carbohydrate supplement can already improve you agility, dribbling and shot accuracy by 2-3.5%1. This might not sound like much, but imagine the compounding effect that multiple 2-3.5% changes can have! Therfore, I’m going to take you through the basics of nutrition for a football player in this article.
Energy
First and foremost the most important, the best nutrition for football players has to start with the basics. Energy. Energy is often expressed in calories (or kcal). During football, a lot of energy is burned to be able to produce your movements. Therefore it is important that you fuel your body well, so that your body has enough energy to be able to move intensely. Moreover, if you don’t eat well enough, you will notice a drop in concentration, technique and general fitness during your game. Not just pre-match is an important window. The post-match intake window provides for a very important chance to recover faster and better2. Furthermore, as I’ve experienced working with pro football players, they often find it difficult to consume enough during intense training days and match days and often compensate on rest days, with subpar quality food. This will cause you to have less energy during training and match days and it will delay your recovery. It can even increase your chances of injury. But, you might ask, what exactly should I eat then?
Carbohydrates
The second most important factor, carbohydrates. A key aspect in the best nutrition for football players. ‘What?! Where’s protein?’ you might say. Protein definitely has its importance for football players, however in my experience and according to the literature2, carbs are most often neglected by football players and most improvement is made by increasing carbs. Firstly, carbohydrates are your primary fuel during football. To put it simple, this is because carbohydrates are more efficiently turned into energy, compared to fats. And because football is mostly played on very high intensity, your body likes to use carbohydrates. However, your body is smart. Therefore; the less carbohydrates (or glycogen) is available in your body, the less it will use –> meaning your power output will be lower and thus it becomes increasingly difficult to keep your intensity high as the match passes. Keeping your average carbohydrate intake high during the week is a good first strategy, however the most important time window is 24h before kick off. This time window has the biggest influence on your performance and thus eating correctly is of the utmost importance. To perform optimally, researchers advise to ingest 6-8g of carbohydrates per kg of bodyweight. This means that Carl who weighs 80kg needs to take in 480g-640g (17-22oz) of carbohydrates 24h pre-game. This amounts to 6-9 plates of pasta (!!). If one sleeps 8h, they are already left with a time window of only 16h to eat. Therefore, it is very important that you maintain good nutrition strategies in the 24h before the game. If you don’t have a plan, you’re going to lower your potential performance on the pitch. If you’re struggling to write a good plan, consider online coaching, through which I can optimise your nutrition and strength training with a full plan. However, you can also continue reading!
Protein
One nutrient that is often overrated is protein. Don’t get me wrong, protein is very important for your recovery and to build muscle, however most often football players overestimate their protein needs3 and underestimate other factors. If you follow a normal diet and pay some attention to your protein intake, it should be relatively easy to achieve adequate intake of protein. The amount of your required protein intake depends on whether or not you also apply strength training next to your football sessions. An ambitious football player should definitely implement strength training, here’s why. For players that don’t apply strength training, a protein intake of 1.2g – 1.5g / kg bodyweight should be adequate. For Carl (80kg) this would be 96g – 120g (3.4 – 4.2 oz). Players that do incorporate strength training a 1.6g+ of PRO / kg bodyweight should be adequate2, 4. For Carl (80kg) this would be 128g+ (4.5oz+). There are not really any performance or health risks associated with consuming too much protein. However, an intake that is too high might result in an inadequate carbohydrate intake in the diet, as you can only eat so much.
Fats
Lastly, fats. Often times, fat is misunderstood by many. Fat from your diet is not exactly the same as body fat. If you would like to decrease your body fat percentage, you shouldn’t only look at your fat intake. In a healthy diet, you would get 20-35% of your total energy intake from fats. However, for football players it is better to stick to 20-25% fat intake. It isn’t so that fat is bad, it is more so that for practical reasons, a lower fat intake leaves more room for a higher carbohydrate intake, which is your primary fuel source during football. Moreover, high fat products such as chips, chocolate and pizza are often recognised as ‘unhealthy’. A high amount of fats does not necessarily equal unhealthy. However, often times a product becomes ‘unhealthy’ because it contains too many one-sided nutrients and too little of others. A football player should focus on limiting fat intake. However, this does not mean that you can never enjoy some seemingly more ‘unhealthy’ products. In fact, I would argue that it is a better strategy to sometimes implement them in your diet, so that you take it in with a smart plan instead of completely limiting yourself, which often results in uncontrolled cravings. Furthermore, I would argue that is entirely possible to optimise your diet, without completely scrapping pizza and fries. It boils down to making smart choices and building your diet around it.
Conclusion
I sincerely hope this article has provided you with some useful knowledge on nutrition. If you notice you find it difficult to make a start, have a look at my all-in nutrition manual for football players (in Dutch). If you would like some counseling, don’t hesitate to contact me for free or start right away with online coaching.
References
1. Currell K, Conway S, Jeukendrup AE. Carbohydrate ingestion improves performance of a new reliable test of soccer performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. Feb 2009;19(1):34-46. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.19.1.34
2. Collins J, Maughan RJ, Gleeson M, et al. UEFA expert group statement on nutrition in elite football. Current evidence to inform practical recommendations and guide future research. Br J Sports Med. Apr 2021;55(8):416. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2019-101961
3. Anderson L, Orme P, Naughton RJ, et al. Energy Intake and Expenditure of Professional Soccer Players of the English Premier League: Evidence of Carbohydrate Periodization. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. Jun 2017;27(3):228-238. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2016-0259
4. Morton RW, Murphy KT, McKellar SR, et al. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. Br J Sports Med. Mar 2018;52(6):376-384. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608
